Pet Rock
Last summer I heard about an unusual Eurorack module called Pet Rock. Jonah Senzel, the maker, calls it a rogue-like rhythm generator or Wordle for Eurorack. After reading about it and watching a very entertaining video by Jeremy at Red Means Recording, I pre-ordered it. It arrived a couple of weeks ago and I've been having a lot of fun with it.
Pet Rock is a very simple module. Feed it two clocks and it generates two trigger patterns. No knobs, no modulation, no controls. Just clocks in, triggers out.
It's rogue-like in that it generates a different pair of patterns every day. There's no way to anticipate what the day's patterns will be in advance, and you can't make it recall a previous day's patterns. Use it or lose it.
It's like Wordle in that everyone who owns this module gets the same patterns every day, no Internet connection required. That could make for some fun collaborations or challenges among people who own this module.
It's unlike any other module in that it uses the phase of the moon to influence its behavior. Yes, the phase of the moon! The patterns it generates ebb and flow as the moon cycles between new and full. And did you know, the moon also has a mood? That's mentioned in the Farmer's Almanac, right? The moon's mood changes every month. An Angry moon makes different patterns than a Calm moon.
Ultimately, it's a simple way to create randomized trigger patterns to use in your music. Feed the same clock to both patterns and you get two related rhythm patterns. Send different clocks to explore relationships between the patterns. Send them to some percussion modules to get an interesting drum beat. I've been enjoying using them with unrelated pitches from a pitch sequencer.
If you get a Pet Rock, beware of the new moon. Mine arrived on the day of the new moon, and when I hooked it up to check that it was working, something seemed amiss. From a hint in the manual I made a guess what was happening, and the support forum confirmed my suspicion. The module was working, but I had to wait a day to be sure it was really working.